The Happiest Place on Earth
by nobleanchor
Summary: As far as romantic circumstances go, the conditions under which they met did not rank very high.
1. Chapter 1

As far as romantic circumstances go, the conditions under which they met did not rank very high.

"I'm so sorry," she blushed as she struggled in vain to pull her over-excited mutt off of his large golden retriever. "She's…she's just a puppy and, well, she's picking up on some new…_behaviors _here."

Arthur laughed, completely unfazed by the encounter. "Can't do much harm, I suppose."

Caught off guard by his response, she choked out a laugh and smiled at him.

"I'm Gwen." She might have held out her hand if she wasn't trying to restrain her dog from mounting his once more.

"Arthur," he nodded to her. "How old is she?" he indicated the shaggy little creature currently squirming in her grasp.

"Six months. This is just her third time here."

"Ah," he smiled knowingly. "She'll have plenty more to learn then. Honestly, I would be a little more worried about keeping _them_ off of her." He raised his eyebrows and Gwen followed his gaze toward a muddle of hounds playing roughly a few yards away, one of which was rather conspicuously still _intact_.

Gwen stretched the corner of her lips in a _yikes_ face, and Arthur chuckled.

"She'll be fine," he assured her. "Are you planning to get her fixed?"

"Yeah, I'm going to make the appointment soon, I've just got to fit it in with work and all."

Arthur nodded silently, crossing his arms as he watched the animals playing together. His dog was currently rolling on its back in a large plastic tub, and water sloshed messily over the side.

"He's having a good time," Gwen observed with amusement.

An old woman with a fragile looking white dog in her lap gave a disapproving look as a small splash of moisture landed on her sandal-clad foot.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "Can't keep him away from the water. He loves it."

"I can see that," she laughed as the dog stood up and started digging vigorously inside the tub, and the old woman glared deliberately at Arthur before making a big show of getting up and moving away.

He sighed, leaning toward her a bit. "I'll tell you what, you can't be friends with everyone here," he said under his breath.

Gwen giggled as she stood closer to him in camaraderie, watching the old woman as she made her way over to group of owners to direct their attention toward her and Arthur.

"It's a bloody dog park, what do they expect?" Gwen whispered.

"They think it's Greenside; that's what they expect."

Gwen frowned, unsure of what he meant. "Greenside?"

"Greenside Park?" he tried. Seeing no recognition in her face, he continued. "It's a little place on the east side of town where all the elderly people go. Very well manicured, small. Pretty much everyone there has got the same dog," he gestured to the small white dog the old woman was holding. "They don't like having 'big' dogs there; it's frowned upon. Although their concept of 'big' also seems to include black dogs, shaggy dogs, unneutered dogs, and dogs that enjoy any kind of fetching, jumping, or rough playing activity."

"Aha," she said, making a mental note to avoid the place. "Sounds awful."

"If you can imagine, Atticus and I got kicked out within 5 minutes."

"And shame on you for not realizing you'd interrupted the bridge club rendezvous," she replied sarcastically.

He snorted. "Quite right."

"How old is…Atticus?"

"He's almost a year and a half. Old enough to be blacklisted by Briarworth's most distinguished citizens, apparently." Gwen traced his line of sight back to the cluster of senior citizens that were now quite obviously banded together, shooting glares conspicuously in their direction.

"Is it always this clique-y?" she wondered out loud.

"Yep, you can't really avoid it at these places. Come here often enough and you see the same people. Someone's dog growls and suddenly you've rubbed them the wrong way on a deeply personal level."

"And here I thought it was the happiest place on Earth," she mused.

"It is," Arthur said seriously, his wistful smile returning as he watched the dogs at play, tumbling over each other and making dizzying circuits of the park. "It's just the people who bring the politics."

Gwen nodded in agreement.

"Well, someone seems quite determined," he said after a while, and Gwen's eyes sought out her scruffy little companion, who was currently defecating in front of the group of disgruntled elderly owners.

"Oh, shit," she sighed, grabbing her waste bag to make her way over to the offending site.

"Gwen," she heard Arthur call after her, and she turned back to see him attaching a leather lead to his (now heavily soiled) dog's collar. "Welcome to the club," he grinned.

She cracked a small smile in response and watched as he turned to leave, her eyes lingering on his retreating form perhaps a bit longer than necessary.

Squaring her shoulders and lifting her head proudly, she turned back to her task and the slew of unfriendly onlookers.


	2. Chapter 2

The second time they met, Gwen was a notably more seasoned patron of the dog park.

"Gwen, right?" she heard his voice before she saw him.

"Arthur! Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, we've been going to the beach lately but I ran out of time today. I trust you've been getting on alright?"

"Not too bad. A scuffle here and there, but no major incidents thankfully. Where do you go? To the beach, that is?"

"It's about a 35 minute drive from here, not far from Blackthorn. Thought I'd treat him one day and then we just kept going back, it's so peaceful."

Gwen nodded, watching as Sable recognized Atticus and began to prance around him in excitement. The latter stood patiently as she sniffed and jumped at him, then sprinted so she could chase him, occasionally nipping at his haunches.

Arthur snorted, and Gwen looked at him wondering what he found so amusing.

"She keeps him in line, doesn't she?"

"I guess so," she smiled as she watched them play.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, wordlessly agreeing to settle down on one of the nearby benches.

"Hey Arthur," a friendly older gentleman called as he entered the park with his bulldog.

"Morning Lou. How's Sarah doing?" Arthur greeted him.

"Better, we think. Should be back on her feet soon."

"Glad to hear it," he smiled after the man genuinely.

Gwen glanced over at the blond man curiously.

Sensing her eyes on his face, Arthur scooted closer to her. "His wife's in hospital. Just had a stroke. Poor woman, they've been through a lot."

"Oh." Gwen said sadly.

Arthur glanced sidelong at her, then smiled. "Hey, you know what? I'm thinking about taking Atty to the beach again on Tuesday, what do you say?"

"You want us to come too?" she clarified.

"Sure, why not?" he shrugged. "They get along well, and I bet Sable hasn't been there yet, has she?"

Gwen chuckled. "No, hadn't got around to it yet."

"She'll love it. It's always a pleasure to see a dog's first experience at the beach."

Gwen stared at him, caught in his infectious smile.

"Yeah, okay," she finally agreed. "Oh, shit, but I've actually got to work that day."

"Wednesday then?"

She mulled it over for a moment. "Yeah, I can do that. You're free?"

"I can reschedule an appointment or two."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. I'd rather be there anyway."

"Okay." Her smile stretched.

"Can I have your mobile? Er, you know, so we can figure out where to meet up?"

"Sure," she turned her face to hide the blush as she dug in her bag. His hand brushed hers as she passed it to him, and she withdrew her hand quickly, slipping it between her thigh and the bench as she tried to ignore the tingling sensation that his touch had kindled.

She watched as Arthur entered his contact information - "Arthur & Atticus" - and sent a nonsensical text to himself. "Hope that's alright," he looked up at her.

"Unlimited," she smiled. Up close, his eyes were the truest blue she'd ever seen.

_And what a silly thought that was._

"Right," he said, his eyes darting to her lips fleetingly.

A gentle but abrupt thud drew Gwen's attention to her lap where a sodden tennis ball rested, caked in dirt and slobber. A strange dog had appeared in front of her, its tongue lolling as it panted, waiting patiently for Gwen to do something.

"Leave the lady alone, Comet!" came a distant call from a woman Gwen presumed to be the owner, on the other side of the park. The dog's ears perked as it recognized its master's voice and, with one more hesitant glance at Gwen's lap, it turned and loped off across the park.

Arthur chuckled beside her as she stood up to let the ball fall from her lap, brushing her hands over her shorts to remove the residual dirt.

Gwen cleared her throat. "Ah, I should be going actually. Talk to you later?"

Arthur sat back. "Yeah, talk to you soon."

Gwen self-consciously wrangled Sable back onto her lead, and after giving a quick pat to Atticus and a small wave in Arthur's direction, she headed out of the gate, taking a deep, measured breath to calm the butterflies in her stomach.


End file.
